Smuttynose Really Old Brown Dog Ale (Big Beer Series) - Smuttynose Brewing Company

AlexJ

North Carolina

3.65/5  rDev -6.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pale chestnut with a puffy tan head that quickly sizzles down to a thin veil, leaving very litte lace in it's wake.

Aroma is rich and caramel drenched. Roasty, nutty malts, golden fruit, and subtle vanilla spice.

Flavor opens with luscious caramel cream, tofee,brown sugar and creme brule cream. It dries midway with hints of oak and whiskey, peat, and a hot alcohol finish. If this is 7%, than I'm a monkey's uncle. Perhaps barrel-aged, but subtly if it is. Overall an excellent candidate for long-term storage, but rather hot and arrogant right now.

Body is creamy, smooth, and slightly chewy. Creamy palate. Finish suffers from boozy heat.

Serving type: bottle

01-22-2009 02:05:55 | More by AlexJ

TheBrewo

Michigan

3.64/5  rDev -6.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

This beer was served on draft at Tap and Mallet in Rochester, NY. It arrived in a generic snifter showing a rich mahogany coloring, letting up ruby hues around the edges and bottom. It held a one finger tall head of cream colored bubbles, showing okay retention. Spotty lacing was left around the glass as it dissipated. No haze or sediment was noted, and carbonation appeared to be moderate. The nose filled with aged musk, rich and syrupy fruitiness of apple, plum, and raisins, huge butterscotch caramels, and softer maple sugars. These mixed atop a base of brown and caramel malts, light toast, bittered plastic phenols, earthen mineral, and heavily fusel booziness. Our first impression was that the flavoring was certainly full, and nicely inclusive of the fruits noted in the aroma, but it was a bit hot. As we sipped, the taste opened with baked plums, red cherry sweetness, candied walnut, toffee and caramel malts, and massive butterscotch, sugariness, warmth, and butteriness. The middle hit with the fusel punch of a double shot of vodka. This laid the palate clean with fire, but did leave enough room for black pepper, lightly roasted brown malts, brown sugar, and biscuity butter qualities to shine through here and there. The end came on the tail end of this boozy wave, washing a bit more cleanly with butters, toasty brown malts, and heavy cherry, fig, and apricot syrups, making it seem, here, much like darker, scarier Scotch ale. The aftertaste breathed of mustiness, plastic phenols, fusel ethanol, light grassy hops, straw, gravel, salt water taffy, watered caramel and toasted brown malts, and red apple sweetness. The body was surprisingly light, and the carbonation was medium. Each sip gave good pop and smack, but with lesser slurp, cream, or froth. No coating was ever appreciated as the booze came in hot and drying, with light pucker, and fusel astringency streaking across the hard palate. The abv was big and noticeable, but the beer sipped nicely.

Overall, what we enjoyed most about this brew was its drinkability. The nose started things off on a fair note as well, giving bright butterscotch sweetness and veritable smorgasbord of fruit to behold. While the former translated well into the flavoring, coming across as big, relatively dark, and biscuity, the latter added pecks of sweetness here and there, only becoming starkly noticeable in the end of the sip, where it was left essentially on its own to fight through the harshly bitter, boozy, and musky finish. This was, at first sip, rather off-putting, but as the beer warmed the flavors melded a bit more, calming the booze, while that 10.10% itself started to warm the drinker, and calm that pucker reflex as you sat back and accepted what was in front of you. This is an interesting offering from Smuttynose, but it just wasn’t exactly to the same level we’ve come to expect from them, and especially from their “Big Beer” lineup.

Serving type: on-tap

06-19-2013 12:47:43 | More by TheBrewo

jrohrbacher

North Carolina

2.75/5  rDev -29.5%

06-19-2013 02:45:22 | More by jrohrbacher

bishopdc0

Maine

4/5  rDev +2.6%

06-17-2013 21:06:11 | More by bishopdc0

sneaks2210

New York

4/5  rDev +2.6%

06-15-2013 20:30:38 | More by sneaks2210

Etan

Illinois

3.83/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

22oz.

A: Clearish light woody brown with a small mild beige head.

S: Old dried prune and peach, raisins, toasted grain, a hint of alcohol, dry honey.

T: Taste brings a moderate wood note (neutral, possibly beachwood?), apricot, lightly astringent hop bite, pine, raisins, caramel.

M: Between medium and thick-bodied with moderate carbonation.

O: Pretty nice old ale. I don't love the wood flavor, but besides that I'm ok with this beer.

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2013 05:41:02 | More by Etan

EricDu

New Hampshire

3/5  rDev -23.1%

06-13-2013 04:10:00 | More by EricDu

jaxon53

Connecticut

3.5/5  rDev -10.3%

06-12-2013 08:54:27 | More by jaxon53

George2744

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev -3.8%

06-10-2013 23:18:28 | More by George2744

JVan

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev -3.8%

06-10-2013 13:46:23 | More by JVan

JMBSH

Colorado

3/5  rDev -23.1%

06-10-2013 04:39:55 | More by JMBSH

garfscores

Connecticut

4.5/5  rDev +15.4%

06-10-2013 00:06:47 | More by garfscores

GarthDanielson

New Hampshire

3.64/5  rDev -6.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a bottle into a tulip, the beer is a ruby-highlighted light brown coloring with a thin, sparse, filmy head coating the surface. Aromas of roasted nut sweetness, old world fruit sweetness, and boozy character. This one smells big. Flavors are rich and bold on the forward tongue, with a roast and bitter backbone supporting date and fig sweetness throughout. Subtle spices and honey sweet highlight, as well as a not so subtle boozy ribbon throughout the palate. Rich, slightly cloying sweet aftertaste, with earthy notes. Slick, slightly abrupt finish on the palate, with a slightly sweet and boozy linger.

Serving type: bottle

06-08-2013 00:39:35 | More by GarthDanielson

stortore

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev -3.8%

06-08-2013 00:08:32 | More by stortore

wedge

North Carolina

3.75/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

@ Tyler's (Raleigh)

2007

Murky mahogany hue with nearly no head, just a wispy topping. Aromas of raisin, apple, and caramel with a bit of oxidation from the age and a vague nuttiness. Rich, malty taste, but not overly sweet by any means. Brown bread, cake, apple, brown sugar, light earthy spice, and fig...very smooth, well integrated flavors. Moderate body, lighter than initially expected, but the '07 was a laid-back 7% compared to today's 10%+. Nothing outstanding, but I enjoyed my ten ounces.

Serving type: on-tap

06-07-2013 17:21:26 | More by wedge

Jordantb313

Colorado

3.5/5  rDev -10.3%

06-07-2013 02:08:08 | More by Jordantb313

mcsauter82

New Jersey

3.5/5  rDev -10.3%

06-07-2013 01:04:03 | More by mcsauter82

BeerZack

North Carolina

3.19/5  rDev -18.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Bottle is notched for 2013 and stamped "10.4%"
Really dark amber that looks brown unless held to the light. Nice white lacing doesn't last long as it warms. Smell is not that intense until it warms up, then the floral (violet candies) booziness comes out. Somewhat floral and sweet caramel with a hint of hazelnut creme liqueur and maybe some chocolate on the nose. Sweet without being overly cloying because of the burn from the alcohol- the flavor is just kinda sugary and maybe marzipan then the violet-like fusel alcohol flavor comes in and the burn starts to sear all the sweet mess off my tongue.

Serving type: bottle

06-06-2013 03:26:36 | More by BeerZack

KevinGordon

North Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +9%

06-04-2013 16:52:51 | More by KevinGordon

ummswimmin

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +2.6%

06-04-2013 01:10:49 | More by ummswimmin

diehl07

Ohio

4.75/5  rDev +21.8%

06-03-2013 22:41:10 | More by diehl07

koopa

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +2.6%

06-01-2013 23:09:40 | More by koopa

thegerm87

Connecticut

3.5/5  rDev -10.3%

05-31-2013 19:08:25 | More by thegerm87

dannyhead

Florida

4.25/5  rDev +9%

05-30-2013 16:48:54 | More by dannyhead

jbar920

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +2.6%

05-29-2013 18:04:29 | More by jbar920